The Wasp Dilemma

At some point, we’re going to need to get a composting system up and running. We have a few pallets set aside to make compost bins, and the corner of the plot nearest to the entrance designated for them to go into. We even have a dozen bags of compost from a recent Green Estates Bag Your Own day to get things started.

The Compost Bin Prototype

This morning, mostly just to tidy things up, I put the pallets roughly in place, with the bags of compost stacked inside and around. I found that a leftover pallet on top of a builder’s bag of decomposing leaves makes a particuarly good seat, and sat enjoying the sunshine for a bit.

What I hadn’t noticed was that about two feet away from my right ear, clinging to the underside of the pallet on top, was this little wasps’ nest:

The Wasps' Nest

The Wasps' Nest Again

I’ve since moved the pallet to the messy corner at the top of the plot that we haven’t quite got to this year so won’t be spending much time poking around in. I haven’t yet decided what to do with it, whether it needs to be destroyed, or whether we and the wasps can co-exist peacefully.

Things that eat plants like slugs and snails, I’ll kill without remorse (although I have been wondering whether a small pond might attract enough frogs to do the job for us). Everything else, I’d rather leave alone if possible, but I’m not particularly keen on being chased from the plot by a cloud of vicious, stinging insects. What to do…